She
blinked in response and he disappeared in a puff of acrid purple
smoke. Glaive laughed, pulling her closer.
"You
see?" he yelled to his people. "You see what a coward he
is? He leaves his precious wench here for us to play with. What do
you say, wench?"
Rafaela
grabbed his groin with one strong hand, nearly bringing him to his
knees. Howling with pain, he dropped the knife he'd had at her
throat, losing his hold on her.
"Three,
two, one," she counted. Releasing him suddenly, she dove under a
stone fountain.
Light
blazed. Vampires screamed. Skin burning, eyes ash, they staggered
around the room, grappling and clawing at one another. Glaive's
clothing burned, as did that of the vampires nearest him. Seth
swooped down from the second story balcony, landing on Glaive. His
dagger went into the vampire's throat, severing the head from the
body. He kicked the head aside. In full battle fury, he faced the
smoldering vampires. With a blood curdling war cry, he sliced into
the nearest vampire. Another head went rolling across the room.
Picking
herself up, Rafaela jumped into action. Grabbing her fallen blade,
she joined Seth in the unending blood bath. They heard sounds of
fighting outside and knew that the family had joined them. Once
Glaive died, his wards were no longer viable. They could come in
freely.
The
battle was brutal, ugly and seemed to drag on forever. More than
once, Rafaela spotted little Emiline swinging her pint sized sword,
double teaming the vampires with her mentor. She saw much of herself
in the tiny, dark haired girl.
Shrieking
like a banshee, she severed two heads in one swing. They rolled and
bounced on the floor, tumbling away with twin thuds. Silence
followed. No more vampires lurked in the shadows. The sun was coming
up, peeping cautiously over the horizon as they regrouped. Setting
out to count their dead, surprised to find out that the humans and
Hunters hadn't lost a soul.
The
slaves and their human keepers had disappeared. The house stood
empty, except for the dead vampires. The Hunters gathered the heads
and piled up the lifeless bodies in the ballroom. Emiline helped
Rafaela douse the bodies with her special blend and the little girl
was given the honor of lighting the match. They watched the house
catch fire and burn as the sun rose.
Some
of the humans stuck around to keep an eye on the fire. The Hunters
and other family members went back to the swamp, tired but
triumphant. When they were offered a huge, claw footed tub to bathe
in, Rafaela and Dirk exchanged a look.
"There's
a yes," Emiline's mother said with a grin. "We'll let you
be for now. Come up to the big house when you're done."
They
hadn't noticed the day before, but there was a huge house on stilts
sitting over the water. It seemed to be home to an extended family.
Other members of the clan lived in the woods around the swamp. The
cabin where Dirk and Rafaela were staying was a guest cabin. Seth
followed the family to the big house, surrounded by the young women,
all of them making a fuss over him. He was the hero of the day for
killing Glaive.
Once
the others were gone, Rafaela and Dirk stripped and examined one
another for wounds. Finding none, they went to the bathroom. The tub
was all they'd hoped and more. Big enough for four people, it stood
on a pedestal in the middle of the bathroom. The rear wall was live
rock, covered in moss and other plants. The floor was flagstone with
a drain in the middle. A commode sat in one corner in its own little
room. A shower graced the stone wall, the water came from an
artificial waterfall. The tub was inviting. Rafaela had always loved
baths, but the shower held appeal too.
"Let's
get clean in the shower and have fun in the tub," Dirk
suggested.
"Works
for me."
After
a short shower, they filled the tub. Dirk sniffed all the bubble bath
at Rafaela's insistence, before they added it to the water. When it
was full enough, she stepped gingerly in. Dirk stood behind her,
steadying her as she lifted her second leg over the side. His hands
caressed her shapely ass as he followed her. Before they'd even
properly settled in the tub, he pulled her to him, entering her
without ceremony. His need for her was primal, urgent. He couldn't
control himself, taking her hard and fast. They came together mere
minutes later.
"We
lived," he gasped as he came. "We lived!"
Rafaela
laughed, cradling his head between her breasts. "We lived,"
she whispered, holding him close as he kissed her breasts.
"I
love you so much," he whispered. "Why couldn't we have been
anyone else?"
"I
ask myself that every day. I love you, too, Dirk. It's the irony of
our existence."
"It's
the twisted hand of fate," he murmured, resting his head against
her. "I couldn't do it, Rafe. I thought I could, but I couldn't
kill my own brother."
She
kissed him deeply, knowing his pain. She'd had to kill half her
family, the ones he'd turned. It was her job to hunt down rogue
vampires, and her family had been some of the worst. That didn't make
it any less emotional for her.
"Killing
my mother was the worst thing I ever had to do," she replied,
stroking his hair. "But it's my job. I am a Hunter. You're not."
"I
kept seeing him as a child. Glaive was so bright and curious, the
sweetest little boy in the world. How did he become—that?"
©
Dellani Oakes 2017
Merry Christmas - and a Vampire!
No comments:
Post a Comment